A fresh wave of international travelers could soon be heading to Bali, thanks to the launch of yet another direct flight route from mainland China. With TransNusa Airlines opening Bali-Guangzhou flights, access to the Island of the Gods just got even more convenient for Chinese tourists, and that could mean major gains for local tourism and the economy.
“This new route of Bali-Guangzhou flights adds to the growing number of direct connections from Bali to China,” said Ahmad Syaugi Shahab, General Manager of I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport, quoted by detikBali on Wednesday (April 16, 2025). “The airport is getting busier with each new flight.”
The inaugural flight, numbered 8B969, took off on Sunday (April 13), carrying 74 passengers from Bali to Guangzhou. Just a day later, on Monday (April 14), the return flight—8B968—landed in Denpasar at 07:40 WITA. The aircraft arrived with 169 passengers on board and was greeted with a traditional water salute at the terminal.
According to Syaugi, the route is served by an Airbus A320, offering 174 economy seats. Initially scheduled to fly four times a week, the service is expected to become a daily operation starting in June.
“With this addition, we now have an average of seven direct flights a day from Bali to major cities in China: Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xiamen, and Guangzhou,” Syaugi said.
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The airport official also stressed how important this growth is for Bali’s economy, particularly because of China’s significance in the island’s tourism market. “As of March 2025, Chinese tourists accounted for 136,000 arrivals, or about 9 percent of all foreign visitors at Ngurah Rai,” he noted.
This Guangzhou service is the latest in a string of new routes rolled out this year. In just the first quarter of 2025, Ngurah Rai Airport added five new international connections: Perth, Jeddah (via Singapore), Darwin, Bangkok, and Shanghai. On the domestic front, two new destinations—Palangkaraya and Manado—have also been added.
Currently, the airport serves 68 total routes: 25 domestic and 43 international. These are operated by 50 different airlines.
With flight options expanding steadily, Bali is reinforcing its status as one of Asia’s most accessible and attractive travel destinations. And if the current trend continues, the island could see an even greater surge of arrivals—especially from the increasingly mobile and travel-hungry Chinese market.
